Author Archives: BakedNorthwest

Major Grey Chicken Curry

24 Thursday Mar 2016

Posted by in Chicken, Easy, Entertaining, Main Dish, Restaurants, Seattle, Weeknight Meals

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This is one of the easiest recipes in our arsenal and a total favorite! I wouldn’t know about the amazingness that is Major Grey Chicken Curry if it weren’t for my friends Ursula and Megan. They introduced me to Shamiana restaurant in Kirkland years and years ago. While everything is good there, we all agree that the Major Grey Chicken is a standout. When I started working right near Shamiana and could hit up their lunch buffet, my obsession got even worse…and my work days got a lot less productive when I was coming back from a lunch buffet so full I could barely move. I had to try to keep my trips there to a minimum but it was hard on some days!

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This recipe is super easy to make at home and is perfect served with some rice and naan. In the future I’ll probably add some veggies to this curry to make it a more well-rounded meal. The original recipe I found online calls for chicken breasts but I’m pretty sure the restaurant uses thighs. I also like to cook my chicken almost all of the way through before adding it back to the curry where some of the recipes had you add the chicken when it wasn’t cooked all the way through. You could really use any chicken for this dish, such as leftover rotisserie chicken, whatever you have on hand!

Recipe
Major Grey Chicken Curry
Inspired by Shamiana Restaurant in Kirkland, WA
Serves 6

Ingredients

  • 3 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs (can sub chicken breasts, or use a mix of both)
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 2 1/2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/4 cup curry powder
  • 1 (9 oz) jar Major Grey mango chutney
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/2 cup diced green onion, for garnish
  • jasmine rice and/or naan, for serving

Directions

  1. Heat about 2 tbsp oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and cook until almost finished, about 4 minutes on each side. Remove chicken and cut into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.
  2. Add remaining 1/2 tbsp oil to pan and add diced onions. Cook for a few minutes until translucent. Whisk in curry powder and cook for at least 2 minutes. Whisk in Major Grey’s Chutney and the cream. Add salt to taste.
  3. Add diced chicken pieces and cook for another 3 minutes or so. Turn heat to a simmer, stir, and check seasonings. Serve curry over jasmine rice and garnish with green onions.
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Irish Whiskey Cake

17 Thursday Mar 2016

Posted by in Baking, Desserts, Easy, Holidays

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For St. Patrick’s Day, I took our favorite (and super easy) Rum Cake recipe and adapted it with Irish Whiskey and green pistachio pudding to give it a green hue. Say what you will about boxed cake mixes, but the addition of booze sure makes for a moist, rich, and tasty cake! I thought about trying one of those car bomb recipes with whiskey, beer, and irish cream, but the choice was easy when this cake was in the oven in about 10 minutes. When you have a cute baby two feet away it’s hard to concentrate on complicated recipes!

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Thirsty Thursday | Rosemary Greyhounds

18 Thursday Feb 2016

Posted by in Boozy, Thirsty Thursday

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Here we go again with herb-infused syrups! It really is the easiest way to make a regular old cocktail a little more fancy…

I first had a drink like this at a place I used to work near…I don’t want to call it a bar, I don’t want to call it a restaurant, it wasn’t quite a chain but there was definitely more than one location in the greater Seattle area…but a guy we worked with just called it the “close and gross” and it was so true but so good at the same time. Thank God we at least had somewhere within walking distance that had alcohol. And alcohol is always good, especially after work (or during your lunch hour). The Close and Gross had a Rosemary Greyhound that blew me away when I ordered it. Luckily I was able to recreate the drink at home and conjure up some old memories from a city and job well past.

Recipe Notes: I found that using grapefruit vodka mellowed the drink out a little, but regular vodka works fine too. The rosemary syrup has a pretty strong flavor as well, so go easy on it and decide how much you like in your drink. I think this cocktail could also benefit from a small splash of cranberry juice to make the drink a little more pink and level out some tartness.

Recipe
Rosemary Greyhound
By Baked Northwest
Makes 1 Cocktail

Ingredients

  • 2 ounces Grapefruit Vodka
  • 2 ounces Grapefruit Juice
  • 1/2 ounce rosemary syrup (recipe follows)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 7-8 fresh rosemary sprigs

Directions

1. Make the rosemary syrup: In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar, and 4-6 rosemary sprigs . Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved, then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Let cool, then strain out herbs.

2. Add vodka, grapefruit juice, rosemary syrup, and ice to a cocktail shaker. Shake, strain into a martini or a rocks glass, and garnish with rosemary sprigs.

Red Velvet Cheesecake

16 Tuesday Feb 2016

Posted by in Desserts, Holidays

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I’ve never been a huge cheesecake person. I’ve never been a huge red velvet person either. Then why on earth would I ever want to make this dessert? They both just sounded so much better together instead of on their own…Plus it was Valentine’s Day! I couldn’t resist this show-stopper. As it turned out, it was perfect for a romantic night in – no dinner reservation required.

It’s super easy to make, as long as you make sure to do everything at least a day in advance! This was great since I didn’t have to do any work on Valentine’s Day. The original recipe calls for a cream cheese frosting, but I think that’s way too rich. The cheesecake itself already has a lot going on, and finishing it with light and fluffy whipped cream is a lot better than a heavy cream cheese frosting.

Recipe
Red Velvet Cheesecake
Adapted from Southern Living
Makes 1 (9 inch) Cheesecake, serves 8 – 10

Ingredients

For the Crust:

  • 1 1/2 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs (1 sleeve of graham crackers)
  • 1/4 cup butter, melted
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

For the Filling:

  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup whole buttermilk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
  • 1 (1-ounce) bottle red food coloring

Directions

Stir together graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and 1 tablespoon granulated sugar; press mixture into bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.

Beat 3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese and 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar at medium-low speed with an electric mixer 1 minute. Add eggs, cocoa, sour cream, buttermilk, vanilla, vinegar, and food coloring; mixing on low speed just until fully combined. Pour batter into prepared crust.

Bake at 325° for 10 minutes; reduce heat to 300°, and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until center is firm. Run knife along outer edge of cheesecake. Turn oven off. Let cheesecake stand in oven 30 minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven; cool in pan on a wire rack 30 minutes. Cover and chill 8 hours.

Serve with fresh whipped cream if desired.

Chocolate Crisps, 2 Ways

02 Tuesday Feb 2016

Posted by in Cookies, Desserts, Easy

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Chocolate Orange Crisps

Plan on every post on this blog starting with “When I was pregnant…” for awhile. Now that Quinn is out in the world and I’m feeling better, I want to try to post all the things I wanted to when I was too tired to do anything. You would think I would be saying that AFTER baby, but man, I’m convinced being pregnant was like having mono. No matter how little sleep I get I still feel better than the days I got home from work and could only manage eating a PB&J or cornflakes.

Speaking of cornflakes, I had a craving for a bowl of them when I was pregnant. That craving lasted for exactly one bowl. Of course, I bought the HUGE box of cornflakes. I don’t think any other cereal comes in a box so big. So…I’ve had some cornflakes I’ve been needing to do something with for way too long.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Crisps

What’s the best thing to do with cereal? Make it into something even more unhealthy, of course! I had so many cornflakes I was able to make 2 batches of chocolate crisps inspired by Ina’s “English Chocolate Crisps.” For the first batch, chocolate, orange, and cranberry were perfect together. But then I realized that Chocolate and Peanut butter was kind of a no-brainer too. The process can get a little messy and each batch turns out slightly different. Above are the peanut crisps and below are the chocolate-orange crisps. I was able to get the orange ones into balls better and the peanut butter ones were a little harder to mold. Regardless of the messiness, these no-bake snacks are still super easy and worth it. It’s a great way to get a nice little hit of chocolate goodness without having too feel too guilty.

Chocolate Orange Crisps

Recipe
Chocolate Crisps, 2 Ways
Makes 2 dozen medium-sized crisps
Adapted from Ina Garten’s Make It Ahead

Chocolate-Orange Crisps

Ingredients

  • 6 ounces dark chocolate
  • 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips
  • zest of 1 orange (about 1 tbsp zest)
  • 1 tbsp orange juice (optional)
  • 1/3 cup dried cranberries
  • 3 cups cornflakes

Directions

Chop the dark chocolate (if you aren’t using dark chocolate chips) and place into a double boiler. Add the bittersweet chocolate chips, the orange zest, and orange juice and stir until smooth. Alternately, you can place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals, stopping to stir until chocolate is melted.

Place the cornflakes and dried cranberries in a medium bowl and stir to incorporate the cranberries. Immediately fold in the melted chocolate with a rubber spatula, working quickly so the chocolate doesn’t harden.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Working with 2 large spoons or soup spoons, spoon mounds of chocolate onto the paper. This gets a little tricky since everything doesn’t quite stick together, but try to get the mounds clumped together. It’s messy, but the chocolate will harden in the fridge! Make about 2 dozen, 2-inch round crisps.

Refrigerate crisps until hardened, at least 1 hour.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Crisps

Ingredients

  • 1 (12 oz) bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1/3 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/2 cup salted peanuts
  • 3 cups cornflakes

Directions

Place chocolate chips into a double boiler. Add the peanut butter and stir until smooth. Alternately, you can place the chocolate and peanut butter in a heatproof bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals, stopping to stir until chocolate is melted.

Place the cornflakes, dried cranberries, and peanuts in a medium bowl and stir to incorporate everything. Immediately fold in the melted chocolate and peanut butter mixture with a rubber spatula, working quickly so the chocolate doesn’t harden.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Working with 2 large spoons or soup spoons, spoon mounds of chocolate onto the paper. This gets a little tricky since everything doesn’t quite stick together, but try to get the mounds clumped together. It’s messy, but the chocolate will harden in the fridge! Make about 2 dozen, 2-inch round crisps.

Refrigerate crisps until hardened, at least 1 hour.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

27 Wednesday Jan 2016

Posted by in Breads, Breakfast, Side Dish, Thanksgiving

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I think this was the first recipe I ever Pinned on Pinterest, and I seriously took way too long to finally follow through and try it out. But hey, since 95% of recipes that people pin probably never make it to the oven, I consider this a win!

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I’m no biscuit expert – this blog is called Baked Northwest after all, and this area of the world isn’t exactly known for biscuits. In fact, I can’t really say I’ve had many good biscuits in my life, they always taste so boring and bland to me. But these! They come out this beautiful orange hue and have SO much flavor. And they are a pretty versatile vessel for whatever you want – ham, honey, butter, jam, fried chicken, savory or sweet! An no worries on the little chunks of sweet potato flecked throughout the biscuits – it’s a very good thing. Continue reading →

Blueberry White Chocolate Scones

25 Monday Jan 2016

Posted by in Baking, Breads, Breakfast, Seattle

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Let’s talk scones. Out of the bajillion recipes out there, I have found the only one I will ever need. Actually, my Aunt Tricia found it, has made it countless times, and will continue to make it because these scones are just that good. I’ve never been a fan of the coffee house scone that’s dry and could practically be used as a hockey puck. To me, scones are meant to be adorned with butter and jam, like the Fisher Fair Scones so many people in the Seattle area grew up with. Continue reading →

Thirsty Thursday | Thyme Gimlets

14 Thursday Jan 2016

Posted by in Boozy, Entertaining, Thirsty Thursday

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Thyme Gimlets

There’s nothing quite like a good homemade cocktail – it’s a lot more economical than going out and I’m not above drinking something fancy while wearing sweatpants.

The thing about homemade cocktails is they have to have few ingredients and be relatively simple to make. When I see a cocktail recipe I’ll typically dismiss it if there are tons of special liqueurs and ingredients. I’ll leave the flaming coffees to the professionals…I want something easy to make that is a little more elevated than mixing booze with soda. Usually all you need is alcohol + simple syrup + a mixer, the more natural and less sweet the mixer, the better!

Thyme Gimlets

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Lemon-Ginger Icebox Cake

11 Monday Jan 2016

Posted by in Desserts, Easy, Entertaining

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I will repeatedly tell you that icebox cakes are one of the most versatile, easy, and impressive desserts you can make. All you need are thin wafter cookies, some sort of delicious filling, and a springform pan.

Proof that they are versatile: Chocolate Strawberry Icebox Cake and Peaches N’ Cream Icebox Cake

Proof they are easy: I am the new mother of a two month old and I managed to make this cake between feedings.

Proof they are impressive: It’s a cake you don’t have to bake…come on! It looks like a lot of work and it’s not. We served this to a party of 6 and everyone loved it! Continue reading →

2015…

30 Wednesday Dec 2015

Posted by in In Review

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2015

2015…You were good to us. My main goals for 2015 were:

  1. Buy a House
  2. Start a Family
  3. Blog 1 new Sugar Cookie Recipe every month

Not a ton of goals…but they were big and we accomplished them all! I wasn’t sure if the whole baby thing would happen before the year was over, but we ended up being pleasantly surprised! I’m looking forward to 2016 and a slew of brand new goals that will be a lot harder to accomplish with a little one in the mix.

Cookies

The blog definitely took a backseat when I was pregnant, I was so exhausted and I could barely accomplish my sugar cookie goal. Naturally, I hope to post more in 2016 but I’m not sure if that goal is realistic. We’ll see! Below are my most liked Instagram photos from 2015. All but the cinnamon rolls and pumpkin scones were made before I was pregnant, if that gives you any idea of how tired I was. Now I’m dealing with a different kind of tired, but I have to say…it’s way better than being pregnant!

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Cheers to another great year!